25-year old PG/SG Jose Juan Barea can be a free agent if the Mavericks don’t pick up their team option on him for the 2010-11 season. I think they should keep him around as he is a improving player. He played in 82 games (75 starts) for the Mavericks last season and he averaged 19.8 minutes, 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Barea has now played in 234 games (43 starts) in his time with the Mavs in which he has averaged 16.2 minutes, 6.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

29-year old shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson has picked up his player option for the 2010-11 NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks. Stevenson played in 24 games (5 starts) for the Mavericks last season and he averaged 11.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He finished up last season playing in 64 games (18 starts) with the Wizards & Mavericks in which he averaged 13.8 minutes, 2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He has now played in 645 games (427 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 23.4 minutes, 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The Mavericks had to know that Stevenson wasn’t going anywhere as he would have had a hard time finding a new gig because he’s not a very good player. The Wizards forced the Mavericks to take him if they wanted Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood so they bit the bullet.

31-year old power forward Dirk Nowitzki can opt out of his contract this summer but I just don’t see him leaving over $20 million bucks on the table to test the free agent market. Nowitzki played in 81 games (80 starts) for the Mavericks last season and he averaged 37.5 minutes, 25.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He has now played in 920 games (895 starts) in his 12 years with the Mavs and he has averaged 36.7 minutes, 22.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Nowitzki’s name is all over the record books for the Mavericks. He is the all-time leader for the Mavericks in games played (920), rebounds (7,802), steals (846) and points scored (21,111). Nowitzki is also #6 all-time in Mavericks’ history in assists (2,465) and he’s #2 in blocked shots (936). Nowitzki is quite simply the best player in Mavericks’ history and I don’t think he will leave until next summer if he decides to walk.

UPDATE: (5/22/2010) - It appears as if Dirk Nowitzki is going to opt out of the final year of his contract. The Mavericks will likely try to lock up Nowitzki for a few more years if he wants to come back.

UPDATE II: (7/3/2010) - Dirk Nowitzki has signed a new 4-year, $80 million dollar deal to return to the Mavericks.

The Mavericks laid an egg last night and now their season is over. Dirk Nowitzki led the way for the Mavericks last night with 33 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Caron Butler also did his part finishing with 25 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocked shots. Rodrigue Beaubois was solid off the bench for the Mavs last night with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 21 minutes on the floor. The Mavericks disappointing lose this series 4-2 to the division and state rival San Antonio Spurs.

The Mavericks destroyed the Spurs last night as they outrebounded them 52-41 and they held them to 35.9% shooting from the floor!  Caron Butler had his best game ever for the Mavericks with 35 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Dirk Nowitzki also filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.  Shawn Marion (10 points), Jason Terry (12 points) and Jason Kidd (10 points) all pitched in offensively for the Mavericks in this game.  The Mavericks are now down 3-2 in this series so they can’t afford any slip ups the rest of this series…..they have to bring their A-Game.